Frugal. By Nature.

Frugal Lifestyle Doesn’t Mean Smaller Christmas Gift List

A few weeks ago, I wrote a review of the book Christmas Sucks. The book is a tongue-in-cheek guide to surviving the holidays. Sometimes I get a bit bah-humbug-ish – mostly because I shop for a dozen people. One person commented on my review that she was surprised that someone who is frugal would shop for as many people as I do. Wouldn’t a frugal person trim the gift list a little?

It made me think a bit about our situation. Our holiday shopping list is almost entirely comprised of family, with the exception of teacher gifts. My husband’s family is big. My family is much, much smaller. And of course, we have three boys of our own.

Every year since my husband and I have been together, I have half-heartedly tried to get him to whittle down our holiday gift list, mostly because of the stress, but of course, the money is an issue, too. He loves Christmas, and adores his family, and doesn’t want to let go of the gift-giving tradition. For the record, he frequently handles some of the shopping, and has even made gifts on occasion.

We’ve always found the money to do something for everyone on the list, even if it’s small. Sometimes we’ve made things, sometimes we’ve found great deals, and sometimes we used rewards from our credit card or MyPoints.

As long as we’re able to shop for so many people without going into debt or sacrificing too much, I am fine with continuing the tradition. We’re frugal all year long so that we can enjoy the holidays without the stress of how to pay for it. Isn’t that the point of all this coupon clipping? So you can enjoy life?